Learn how to boost impressions and engagement on YouTube

When it comes to building a community, YouTube is one of the best social media channels to utilize.

Through utilizing YouTube, millions of marketers are creating a community of loyal fans and followers online.

This loyalty translates to website views and product purchases; thousands of hours of video are consumed on the platform daily.

Online consumers flock to YouTube to help them learn specific skills, vet products and make purchase decisions. 

However, creating a community on YouTube doesn’t happen overnight. Creating a loyal and engaged community of followers on takes effort, time and practice.

Do you want to get started creating a community this powerful?

Here are 5 tips to try to boost your impressions and engagement on YouTube:

1. Create high-quality titles and thumbnails: The title and thumbnail of a video are what get people to click and watch. Since YouTube functions as a major search engine, using keywords in your titles is incredibly important. Good titles perform better in search, thereby generating more impressions. Your title should speak to the specific topic you’re covering; it should include keywords, be enticing and attention-grabbing. Equally as important as your title is your thumbnail. You want to use the thumbnail image to establish credibility and grab attention. Bright colors are known to attract eyeballs. It’s also important to repeat a similar theme / template, so that your thumbnails establish your brand identity through use of fonts and color palette.
2. Grab attention: Just like your title and thumbnail will grab attention, you want your introduction to hook your audience. Exciting and engaging your audience within the first 15 seconds of the video is critical. The best way to do this is to tease the value that you’ll be providing through the video.
3. Engage: If you don’t have time or interest in engaging with your audience, you’re on the wrong platform. Engagement on YouTube is critical to growing a community. Asking questions during your video, and telling your audience to leave answers in the comments, is a great way to create that sense of community. People will appreciate your invitation to start a conversation and connect with each other in the comments section. Be sure to show your audience that you appreciate their effort by monitoring the comments, answering questions left in the comments and thanking people for engaging. Featuring your audience (by answering their comments or questions in your videos) is a great way to show them love. There’s no doubt that if you mention a viewer by name in a video, they’re more likely to share it with their friends.
4. Consistency grows community: In order to grow a loyal and engaged community of followers, you have to post consistently. Posting on the same day of the week or month, at the same time, turns your YouTube channel into a television show; it conveys to your audience when they should “tune in.” Creating a consistent background of where you shoot your videos will make them more familiar to your audience, and familiarity breeds friendships. Your fans will feel closer to you just through having a familiar background from which your videos are shot. Similarly, by repeating a consistent theme or set of topics to post about, your audience will be able to decide easily whether you are someone they want to continually tune in to. You want your audience to know you for a specific type of content, whether it’s travel, food, marketing or sports.
5. Be yourself: Last but not least, don’t be afraid to show your true colors through YouTube. Communities are created through shared sets of interests and beliefs. So don’t be afraid to show and share with your audience what you love and why you believe in it. Being raw with your audience (pulling back the curtain to showcase your values and passions) will allow them to get to know you better. Video is personal; people watch your videos to be inspired, educated or entertained. The more authentic you are, the more likely you’re going to attract the right people to your channel. The more your fans know, like and trust you, the more likely they are to share your content and/or work with you. Win, win, right?

With the growing power and popularity of live video (through YouTube Red, Periscope and/or Facebook Live,) it’s becoming increasingly important for marketers to understand how to use video as a way of capturing attention.

By following the tactics above, you will start to grow both the impressions and engagement that you see on YouTube.

Being authentic, posting consistently, engaging with your community and using strong titles and thumbnails will enable you to create a community of followers who like, share and support your social media efforts.